Re: Living Large

: When (what year) did the phrase "Living Large" or "Live Large" become popular? I believe it was in the middle 60's but I can't find any info on it. I'm more concerned with WHEN as opposed to WHAT it means.

The OED reports the meaning (even if you don't want to hear) as: "a. U.S. slang (now esp. among African-Americans). to live large: to live in an extravagant manner; (hence) to be very successful, popular, or wealthy, esp. ostentatiously so. [citation:] 1834 W. G. SIMMS Guy Rivers I. viii. 102 He did have a power of money.., but they did say he was going behind hand, for he didn't know how to keep what he had. He was always buying, and living large but that can't last for ever." The OED also mentions the use of "large" as meaning "without restraint," and cites uses with living this way from as early as the 18th century. SS